Living without gluten, casein, soy, eggs and peanuts. Living with ASD and ADHD. Life is good!

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Quinoa Veggie Burgers

While searching for ways to use quinoa (because it's awesome and I love it), I came across this recipe for Quinoa Burgers at Enlightened Cooking. Hello, Yum! I only tinkered with the recipe a little bit. It's awesome. It is really, really good. I've always loved veggie burgers, but try finding the ones at the grocery store that are not made with soy! Impossible! These are super easy to throw together and can handle a variety of toppings. I topped mine with Turkish Red Pepper Spread and parsley, but they'd also be good topped with pesto, hummus, bean dip, mustard, tomatoes...anything you please.

I will tell you that I never rinse my quinoa. It's supposed to be rinsed to remove the coating that may have a bitter taste to it. I think it's a pain to rinse quinoa, plus I really like the slightly bitter twang to it. It does not have that twang all the time, but when it does I like it. If you don't like it, rinse the quinoa under warm water for a minute and drain before using.

Bring the water to a boil in a small pot. Add the quinoa, cover and simmer 15 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed. Set aside to cool.

Steam carrot until soft. Drain carrots and transfer to a medium bowl. Mash the carrots together with the beans. Add the quinoa, scallions, egg (or flax meal), breadcrumbs, cumin, salt and pepper. Mix well - mixture should be slightly sticky (otherwise, it will dry out quickly and crumble into bits when you try to form it into burgers). If it's too sticky, add more breadcrumbs a tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.

Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Form quinoa mixture into burgers about 1/2 inch thick. Cook until bottoms are golden brown, flip and repeat (about 5 minutes per side). Serve hot with toasted sandwich rolls or by themselves (which I prefer, with a salad to accompany it) and desired condiments.

2 comments:

Erin, have you ever tried red quinoa? My husband just discovered it at our local natural foods store, and it's delicious. It has a very different taste from the "regular" quinoa (which I also like very much).

Hi Rachel! I have not yet tried red quinoa. It's supposed to hold up better/keep it's shape and texture better, right? Which is preferable in some recipes...thanks for the kick in the rear, I need to get off my duff and try red quinoa soon. :)

About the recipes

All the recipes on my blog are free of gluten, casein, soy and peanut. I've been baking without gluten and casein since January 2005, and I've been baking without eggs (gluten free and vegan) since June 2010. Many other recipes are corn free, nut free, yeast free and vegan. There's probably a little something for everyone here!

About Me

I am a gluten, casein and soy free ADHD mom to two lovely girls who are the lights of my life. My girls are gluten, casein, egg, soy and peanut free. My chef crush is Rick Bayless and my movie star crush is Gary Oldman. The music I'm really digging right now is Departure Songs by Hammock.

I blog gluten-free

About the other stuff (My Amazing Girls)

Sometimes I write about living with a little girl who has ASD and her fierce and brave younger sister who has ADHD. They've opened my mind and my heart more than I ever could have imagined.

Favorite Lyrics

"There's only one thing that I knowhow to do wellAnd I've often been told that you only can dowhat you know how to do wellAnd that's be you,Be what you're like,Be like yourself..."They Might be Giants, Whistling in the Dark

New to Being Gluten Free?

Read all about gluten free flours here, and read about making your own gluten free flour blends here. You can also find information on xanthan gum here and information on the different starch flours here.

Favorite Quote

“Sometimes you do something because it's difficult and because it's different from everyone else around you.” Matthew Butson, Getty Images’ Hulton Archive (source)

About Xanthan Gum and Guar Gum

Want to use guar gum instead of xanthan gum? Use 50% more guar gum than the xanthan gum called for in a recipe. So if a recipe calls for 1 tsp. xanthan gum, use 1 1/2 tsp. guar gum instead. This works great for everything except sandwich bread, in which case double the guar gum and expect your loaf to be flat as guar gum seems to inhibit yeast growth.

"When you're happy like a fool, let it take you over. When everything is out, you gotta take it in...Oh, this has gotta be the good life, this could really be a good life, good life. The hope is we have so much to feel good about...Please tell me what there is to complain about?" One Republic, Good Life (listen)